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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23931772">On Cressida</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliahark/pseuds/eliahark'>eliahark</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>I'm the only one writing any content for this fandom [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SHAKESPEARE William - Works, The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller, Troilus and Cressida - Shakespeare, Troilus and Criseyde - Geoffrey Chaucer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Achilles is pretty nice in this, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops &amp; Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Briseis deserves better, Cressida is a BAMF, Cressida is a tough bitch, Diomedes isn't always a jerk, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Multi, Paris sucks, Past Sexual Assault, Rape Recovery, as in there is one reference and it refers to it in technical terms, but a loveable one, but like VERY implied, odysseus is an asshole, patroclus is clueless</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:08:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,276</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23931772</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliahark/pseuds/eliahark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What Happens When You Ask Different People About Cressida?</p><p>Turns out: some people know a lot about her and some people know very little.</p><p>Takes place in the flour in your hair, love in your heart, coffee on your shirt universe</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Achilles/Patroclus (Song of Achilles), Diomedes/Cressida, Odysseus/Penelope</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>I'm the only one writing any content for this fandom [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1725205</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Patroclus</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If you were to ask Patroclus, he’d say that Cressida is his co-worker and friend. Because she is. </p><p>In the beginning, he kinda ignores her and is vaguely annoyed by her entire existence, but he doesn’t hate her. Look, he was dealing with his own stuff then. </p><p> </p><p>He really likes her boyfriend, Diomedes. Diomedes’ entire existence could be summed up in the sentence the duality of man. He looks like a total jock and does the whole bromance thing, but he’s genuinely a good person and is co-president of the GSA. Patroclus might have had a crush on him during freshman year, okay?</p><p> </p><p>All he knows about is girlfriend is that she had recently had a super messy break up with one of the guys from their rival cafe. He’s heard the rumors of her being a slut and of her not being good enough for Diomedes, and that Diomedes shouldn’t have stayed with a cheater. But he doesn’t really take them to heart. Especially after she shows up for her first day in a massive sweater that she’s pinned so that the sleeves stay rolled up.</p><p> </p><p>He becomes closer with her after her boyfriend starts working at the cafe, and rules get set up about him Odysseus and Diomedes working together. They talk with Achilles a lot when business is slow. She’s smart as a whip and a total nerd, and she gets along really well with Achilles.</p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t start to really notice things about her until after he gets together with Achilles. (Apparently, he didn’t even notice her getting 2nd-degree burns all over her torso from her ex’s brother throwing coffee on her.) He notices that she flinches every time Fuckign Agamemnon comes in. That if anyone asks if they know her, she starts to panic. That she refuses to wear revealing clothing. That she spaces out sometimes, and it’s like she’s in her own world. But he doesn’t ask questions. </p><p> </p><p>He also notices that she and Achilles make meaningful eye contact from across the cafe sometimes when certain things get said. But he isn’t concerned. Especially because half of their interactions involve them flipping each other off while grinning. </p><p> </p><p>She’s a cool kid. Wait, why are you asking?</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Briesis</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If you were to ask Briseis, she’d say that Cressida is a good worker and a good person. She’d say that Cressida works hard, but is genuinely nice to be around. She can be a bit of the pain in the ass but in a good way. </p><p> </p><p>She knew what she was getting into when she hired the girl. She wasn’t stupid. Everyone knew about the rumors, even freshmen knew. The rumors that she had been cheating on Troilus, and called it sexual assault so he wouldn’t get mad at her and look how that turned out. The rumors that she had been fucking Diomedes, and that’s why he saved her. She figured that September must have been tough for the poor girl and that she might as well hire her, as no one else would. </p><p> </p><p>It starts out smooth enough. She isn’t the nicest towards Odysseus, and while Briseis has a hunch about why she never asks because she isn’t an asshole. But Cressida is a competent worker and does pretty well.  But then Ipheginia gets fired. And even though Iphigenia never did anything anyway, they’re technically understaffed. So, Briseis has to figure out who to hire because fucking Agamemnon is useless. She knows that she’s asking Cressida a huge favor when she calls her in, but Cressida’s been working there for long enough that she should be able to handle it. Overall the lunch rush seems to go pretty well, no one starts screaming for a manager, and Cressida doesn’t quit on the spot. </p><p> </p><p>But then, Paris arrives. And it all goes to hell. Suddenly she’s dealing with two different potential assault cases. Cressida seems to be okay, she isn’t screaming or crying, she’s just looking at the floor. But then she asks Cressida if she’s okay, and Cressida just breaks.  Let’s be clear. Briseis thinks that Cressida had nothing to gain from lying about the assault, but she never knew exactly what happened. She didn’t appreciate the extent of how bad Cressidas trauma was until she was refusing treatment for her severe burns so that she wouldn’t be touched.</p><p> </p><p>When she arrives at Diomedes apartment (she knows Cressida has a single and doesn’t want her to be alone right now), she briefly thinks that Diomedes might just kill her. Luckily she’s able to explain what happened and book it out of there with Achilles in tow. </p><p> </p><p>Cressida comes back to work, which surprises her. But it takes a week, and she still hisses if something brushes against her unexpectedly. Briseis makes the decision to hire Diomedes because she values her head on her neck and because she thinks it would be a good decision. </p><p> </p><p>She becomes closer to Cressida after that. She’s a good friend. She’s smart, and she’s sassy, and she can shut Odysseus up, so Briseis thinks she’s pretty damn cool. She also thinks that Cressida is pretty damn tough if she manages to obtain 2nd-degree burns all over her chest but still decides to come to work. </p><p> </p><p>In fact, you could say that Cressida is her closest female friend. And she doesn’t mind that. Cressida is kinda awesome.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Achilles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If you were to ask Achilles, he’d say that Cressida is like a little sister to him and that he sees a lot of himself in her.  What he wouldn’t tell you is that it goes beyond their appearances. The fact that they both sport blonde curls and light eyes. But that they’ve both been victims of sexual assault. <br/><br/>On the day of the incident, he doesn’t know why he fights back. He doesn’t hear any of the conversation leading up to it. He sees the action out of the corner of his eye. For some reason, he feels incredibly protective over this girl he hardly knows. Protective enough to break his nose. </p><p> </p><p>He figures something is off when he tries to perform some first aid on the burns, but she panics every time he gets near her chest. So he settles for bringing her to her boyfriend’s apartment. He explains what he’s done so far and highly suggests that they go to the hospital, but they don’t. Diomedes seems ready to kill him when he mentions attempting first aid but calms down when he mentions stopping at her panic. </p><p> </p><p>When he gets home, he pulls out his computer and quickly googles her name. The 5th result mentions the university. It mentions the expulsion of several boys for the assault of another student. It also mentions an article that mentions Cressida by name and says that the article is in no way proven to be factual and that they should not speculate about the victim. </p><p> </p><p>Right.</p><p> </p><p>A few weeks later, he drops a hint about his experience in front of Cressida. She picks up on it but never asks any questions. They end up looking at each other sometimes when shitty things are said. </p><p> </p><p>It takes a while, but eventually he and Cressida talk. She’s been left to close up, and he was there late working on a paper.  He explains everything to her. How he figured out something was wrong, that he’d been through stuff, his entire story. Hell, he told her things that he never told anyone before. She responded by telling him her whole story. She told him about the bruises on her breasts that never seemed to go away. He told her about the hickies that seemed permanent.  By the end of the conversation, they were both sobbing. </p><p> </p><p>She’s a good person. And honestly, he doesn’t mind it when she lightly insults him from across the cafe. He simply sticks his tongue out at her, and she responds. Or they flip each other off while grinning. It’s a strange friendship, but it’s one he’s thankful for. </p><p> </p><p>And, if whenever Agamemnon comes in, he redirects all attention towards him long enough for her to slip away, then that’s between the two of them. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Odysseus</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If you were to ask Odysseus, he’d tell you that Cressida is a smart ass and a little shit and that he loves her to death. If you knew him well, he’d add on that he has no idea why she ever forgave him. And that he will always be in her debt. </p><p> </p><p>He wasn’t there when it all went down. Instead, he heard about it second-hand through Diomedes. Because he was a key aspect of what happened, Diomedes was at the police station when all the juicy stuff happened. He had been there when the police officer agreed that due to the boys’ status and money, she was better off simply reporting them but not pressing charges. Diomedes had also watched as Troilus slut-shamed and victim-blamed his girlfriend. </p><p> </p><p>It made Odysseus very angry, and when Odysseus is angry, he fights back, not through punches, but words. So he wrote. He wrote an opinion/ criticism piece about rape culture on campus and how boys were allowed to commit crimes as long as they were white. He used Cressida’s case as an example.</p><p> </p><p>That may have been the wrong move. </p><p> </p><p>Because even though he published the article anonymously, Cressida tracked it right back to him. She found him in the dining hall and punched him in the nose for violating her right to privacy and her right to choose how she dealt with her trauma. </p><p>His article also exposed who she was to the whole campus, and was the reason why the creep roofied her drink at that party. Diomedes had found her going limp and got Odysseus and Penelope to help him. </p><p> </p><p>The one good thing about the article is that it got the boys expelled.</p><p> </p><p>When she had come to, she explained that hse lost all her friends in the breakup and had no one to lean on but her uncle who taught at the university. Penelope adopted her on the spot. She also started fake dating Diomedes to keep the creeps that were coming for her (thanks to his article) away. The next month had involved Penelope and Odysseus wanting to lock the two in a closet until they confessed their feelings but figured that’s pretty shitty to do to a trauma victim. </p><p> </p><p>It took a long time for her even to consider forgiving him (and trust him he understands) but, eventually, she did. The friendship starts through spats, which turns into wordplay, which turns into banter. They’re both smart asses, and Cressida is totally willing to be a little shit to win. </p><p> </p><p>There are times when Cressida doesn’t want to do something, and she looks to Odysseus and says that he owes her. He always gives in because he does. Cressida has not gotten up to get a soda from the fridge in months. </p><p> </p><p>He cares about her a hell of a lot, and thanks God every day that she cares about him too.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Diomedes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If you were to ask Diomedes, he’d tell you that Cressida is the bravest person he’s ever met. Most people would look at the small girl who was talking about and laugh. She doesn’t seem like much. But they don’t know her like Diomedes does. </p><p>They weren’t there on the night that it happened. He should have stepped in earlier. But he was hoping that they’d stop or move on. But they didn’t. He ended it before it got real bad. He stopped it before they got to the legal definition of rape. He didn’t stop it before she could get traumatized.</p><p>They hadn’t seen her when her boyfriend accused her of cheating, of being a whore. He told her that he didn’t believe that she had been assaulted because she wasn’t going to court over it. Refused to listen as she explained that as white men, they’d get off scot-free no matter what, and honestly, it wasn’t worth the trauma and legal fees and press that it’d get. </p><p> </p><p>They weren’t there when she went to a party to try and forget everything that happened to her that week and got roofied. They hadn’t dragged her body back to Penelope while panicking about what to do. </p><p>They weren’t there when he proposed that they fake date so that guys would leave her alone. She shook his hand and referred to it as dancing with the devil. They hadn’t been there when after a month she had sat him down and told him she was developing feelings for him and would he please just leave her alone and forget she ever said anything. They hadn’t been there as he talked her down from running off by explaining that he liked her too.</p><p> </p><p>They aren’t there when the nightmares come. The ones she can’t stop shaking from when she wakes up. They don’t know about the nights that no one can even touch her. The nights that she breaks onto the rooftop, and just stands there, waiting. </p><p>They don’t know that she’s got to be on top during any sexual encounter. That she always needs to be in control. They don’t know the number of times they’ve had to stop for her to get her breathing under control, for her to remember where she is and who she’s with. </p><p> </p><p>They don’t know about the scars across her abdomen from when Paris threw his coffee on her. </p><p>They don’t know her like he does. She’s the bravest person in the world. And she’s his girlfriend. </p><p> </p><p>He’s pretty happy about that.</p><p> </p>
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